Helen Frankenthaler: Splish, Splash

Yesterday when I posted about Elizabeth Murray I thought about Helen Frankenthaler. She, too, has a connection to the area (Washington County, New York). She attended Bennington College, which is just over the hill from us. She remained involved with the College throughout her career, coming back in 1952 for Jackson Pollock‘s retrospective and then as a trustee in the 1970s.

Frankenthaler took Pollock’s process of working on the floor and pouring paint on raw canvas in a new direction. It is said that it was her painting “Mountains and Sea” that influenced Morris Louis‘ painting process.

Helen Frankenthaler, “Mountains and Sea”

For years, she was the ONLY woman artist the museums would show. At one point the Guggenheim had had only two solo exhibitions for women: Helen Frankenthaler and Helen Frankenthaler.

What I appreciated about Frankenthaler is that her paintings looked so damn much fun to paint.